I posted the other day about how my 5yo ds hadn't nursed in 2 days, and now it seems he just wants to nurse once every 2-3 days and that's his new pattern! I'm a little sad but mostly I'm happy that he's weaning at his own pace...

He's my only so when he's weaned, I'm done with breastfeeding. That does make me sad.

I know what you mean Cranberry. I always think I'll be so sad when my nursing career is over. I actually asked my Aunt, who has six kids, if she was sad when the last one was weaned. She said no. I was like "Really?" She said "well I was nursing for fifteen years straight (most of that time she was either tandem or triandum nursing too) and it was enough." So, she didn't walk away sad. She had nursed enough to last her a lifetime I guess. :LOL

It's so funny, I've never experienced infrequent nursing. My first quit cold turkey (which I think had something to do with how much food I was giving him) and my 3 1/2 yo dd is quite addicted to the boob. She nurses once at night and a few times during the day. I see her nursing for at least a couple more years. It will be interesting to me to see the process happen more naturally and gradually this time. I think it'll be healing from the way ds weaned too whiich was sudden, unexpected and left me depressed and engorged.

A little bit, thanks for asking. BeanBean now understands that I have to put his sister down or hand her to someone else a lot of the time before I can nurse him, or that he has to get into a not-so-comfotable position. He still doesn't understand that being quiet will get him where he wants to be more quickly, but he's learning. I think he was asking to nurse so frequently because he was going through a growth spurt-- not that he's gotten any bigger, but he did gain a whole bunch of new words and his diction is much better than it was before.

BooBah vomits constantly, and everytime she does I'm impressed once again with breastmilk. ChibiChibi had reflux as a baby, but she was on nutramigen-- not only does that stuff stain, it reeks to high heaven! : Breastmilk puke doesn't stain; if it did, none of us would own an item of unstained clothing. :LOL

Hello everyone! I am here still :0 I am nursing my 4 y.o. twin girls. No sighn of weaning. In fact, lately Jordyn has been wantin got nuse alot the last few days. I hope she is not getting ill. But gosh I love that I am still able to do this! Lately my dh and I have in in complete awe at how fast our little girls have grown up , it feels sooo good to have my babies still curled in my lap from time to time. To hold them both in my arms at night nursing and all tucked into bed for a good nights sleep.

Just saying hello-my 3rd child is now 5.8 years & still nursing at bedtime only-actually fell asleep last night without it!
That is a rare thing!
My older boys weaned on their own -but before this age-so I am letting her guide me a bit.

i loved the article on the 5 year old who hulahooped & breastfed still!

Charmarty and Jazmommie... I'm so jealous! I SO wish I could have b/f the twins. There are times now when I could just cry because nursing them would be SO much easier than the other (far less effective) methods of calming them.

Yesterday afternoon I found myself wishing my almost-6 year old was still nursing...he fell off a kitchen stool and broke his arm. Every instinct in my body told me to scoop him up and nurse him, but he's weaned! I literally thought, "Well what do I do now?" He's doing ok after 4 hours in the ER and having to be sedated so they could set his arm. The breaks are on the "corner" of the bone and involving the growth plate, so this will be a long recovery and years of checking to see if the bone grows properly. My poor little man!

At least we're able to re-use the jacket with the left arm cut off from when his brother broke his arm! :LOL

I kind of feel that way about my niece sometimes. She's seven and a half, but I think that if she could nurse she would. Instead, she'll watch BeanBean nurse and say "What does leh taste like?" :LOL Her sister is four years old, and not at all roundabout: she frequently asks me to nurse. When I tell her to ask her mother she says, "NO! I want to take a nurse with BeanBean!" :LOL I'm not sure how comfortable I'd feel nursing a 55 pound four year old who isn't even mine, though. I'm sure that my sister would have issues with it. :LOL

Rynna, that's so sweet! How does their mother feel about them wanting to nurse and loving that you're doing it (not to mention wanting to nurse off of you! )? Speaking of nursing other people's kids...

When I was out of state visiting family my sister nursed my baby. He was being especially clingy and I was thinking, "If only there was someone else to nurse him I could actually get something done." At the exact same moment my sister walks up holding her breasts and saying, "Oh man, all my milk is coming down and she (her newborn) *just* fell asleep!" So I handed my little guy off to her just to see. It was so funny. He didn't hesitate. He saw the boob, he went for it! :LOL He was lovin' that newborn milk! My sister actually offered to nurse my 3 1/2 yo when I was in the middle of cooking a huge meal and dd really, reallly wanted to nurse (they were a little more needy while away from home). DD thought about it but it was really just too much about me for her. I think she would've tried actually if she wasn't wanting to nurse - more of an experimental thing, yk? So my sister tried to tend to what I was cooking while dd nursed.

I was just having this conversation with a friend yesterday. I honestly don't know how I would calm my girls down if I couldn't rely on the boob. I mean nursing has gotten us through SO many things. I used to feel bad for ppl in my play group who would constantly tell horror stories about how thier kids won't nap anymore because they couldn't keep them in thier beds! So, they would have to take drastic measures like licking the door, unscrewing the light bulb ect... just to try and keep them in thier rooms! Well, not us, My girls are 4 (TODAY!!!!!) and the only thing I have to do is say, Ok let's go snuggle and have the boob. No kidding, they are right there man!

As far as your little one sleeping through the night busybusymomma, I think you hit the nail right on the head with that one. I just recently night weaned my girls about 4 months ago. I found they were waking each every hour just to nurse. Because they would turn over, feel me and then automaticallly want the boob. Well between the two of them, I was waking up far too much at night. I also found that becuase they were nursing, it would actually take them longer to fall back asleep. As soon as they became night weaned (I needed to teach them how to fall asleep without the boob) if they wake now, I just hold them closer, and they Immediately fall asleep, and have far less wake times at night. But keep in mind my girls are 4 now.

There are plenty of times when I wish I could still nurse dd for comfort. The other day when I was changing she decided she wanted to try again because she missed it so much. I let her, and after 1 second she popped off and contently said "no milk".

Rynna, that's so sweet! How does their mother feel about them wanting to nurse and loving that you're doing it (not to mention wanting to nurse off of you! )?

Oh, she thinks it's nuts. :LOL She totally understands why they don't ask her to nurse (aside from the fact that's she's got no milk); she's not what you'd call "parental." :LOL I don't know what she'd think if I actually nursed them, probably that I was nuts. I have offered them milk in a cup, though; Chibi wouldn't drink it because it was warm. Then again, BeanBean won't drink my milk from a cup, either. BeastieBeast will eat or drink anything, so she's not a really good yardstick for such things. :LOL

I was a single mom with dd and had to work starting when she was just 4 months old. I was lucky and had a good friend who just had a baby (our babes were 2 weeks apart) and offered to be her caregiver. Dd would not take a bottle and after a couple weeks of driving to nurse every 2 hours my friend offered to nurse dd for me. Dd had no problems and was perfectly content after that and I didn't get fired.

Just jumping in after quickly reading all of the posts--can I join you guys?! My "baby" is 29 months old, and she still loves to nurse. I've not handled that relationship with the reverence it deserves lately, but I'm going to change that. I love that she nurses and I don't want her to stop. I just need to make myself act that way! I could really use the support of this group.

Padomi, I know exactly what you mean about your regional issues! I am from SC, my parents still live there, and my family has a beach house on Hilton Head Island that we frequent regularly (I live in GA, right on the border). I know a handfull of people IRL who EBF, but I don't see them very often. Thank goodness my mom and sisters are very supportive.

Rynna, just wanted to offer a hug of support. I cheated my older dd by asking her to wean when I was pregnant with her sister. She did it without a fuss, but I will always feel regret over my inability to nurse through pregnancy. What an amazing gift you are giving your babies!

Spryte, that is so awesome! That is what I would want if I had to leave my baby too. I'd also be more than willing to nurse someone else's kid if they needed me to. Hey, I've even got paperwork (I donate).

He weaned exactly 10 months ago. He'll be 6 years old 2 months from today.

He had a pretty good day today, until the end of my father's birthday party (at a really nice restaurant!) when he couldn't play a game on our friend's cell phone because he couldn't use both hands...he had a meltdown recalling everything in the day that he couldn't do because his arm was broken and just cried and cried out of frustration (and exhaustion, as it was past bedtime and he barely slept last night!). All three of my kids were asleep by the time we got home and they all stayed asleep as I carried them each up two flights of stairs from the car to the bedrooms (dh is still at work...ugh!).

My left breast is getting engorged, as Haley barely nursed today because she had so many new people to play with today at my parents' house (they have two couples staying at their house for the weekend) and so much to do at my dad's party! I'm going to go upstairs soon and see if she'll nurse in her sleep!

I'm going to a LLL area conference tomorrow; MIL offered to watch BeanBean, but I declined because I tend to become very engorged when he's not around to nurse. I've had to pump three times to relieve the pain since BooBah was born, and I get a ridiculous amount of milk. I'm convinced that he's getting between 700 and 1000 calories a day just from me. Mike thinks that may be a little much, but if I eat less than 2000 calories a day I feel like I'm starving to death, and I am slowly packing on the pounds anyway because of the whole horrific "starvation mode" thing. I wish I could eat regularly and often, but I always grab what I can and end up feeling hungry, tired, angry and miserable. I've been somewhat depressed and very angry lately, and I know that my diet (rather, my lack thereof; "diet" means "regimen") has a lot to do with it.

Meanwhile, I need to borrow some money from my mother and buy myself some fat pants, because my behind is freaking huge.

On the topic of nursing someone else's baby...
I have nursed my niece (9 weeks old) a couple of times as my sister doesn't have enough due to a breast reduction & hates having to give formula. Unfortunately, I can't seem to get anything when I pump or I would give her that as well.

On the topic of nursing a 4 y.o....:
It has bothered me quite a bit to nurse her at all since I was pregnant with ds (I had a nursing "aversion") & had to "wean" her about 3 months in. Since he was born she has gradually built up to nursing every morning again (& occasionally during the day if something traumatic happens).

We had a big fight this morning because she tried to force her way in between me & ds who was nursing at the time. He grabbed on with his teeth, I pushed her away (after trying to ask her to wait) & she kicked me! After that there was no way she was getting any .

This has been building for a while, I think. Every morning she says "I want milky!" & it immediately gets my back up. I usually say "pardon me?" or something to that effect & she sweetly says "may I please have some milky?", but by that time I'm annoyed & only grudgingly let her have some.

Dh says I should "just wean" her , but as you know, it's not that simple. Anyone else have problems like this? Don't even suggest I nurse them at the same time. Although I have done it a couple of times, it gives me the willies just thinking about it.

Mike thinks that may be a little much, but if I eat less than 2000 calories a day I feel like I'm starving to death, and I am slowly packing on the pounds anyway because of the whole horrific "starvation mode" thing. I wish I could eat regularly and often, but I always grab what I can and end up feeling hungry, tired, angry and miserable. I've been somewhat depressed and very angry lately, and I know that my diet (rather, my lack thereof; "diet" means "regimen") has a lot to do with it.

Meanwhile, I need to borrow some money from my mother and buy myself some fat pants, because my behind is freaking huge.

I'm in the same boat...unable to lose weight due to the "starvation mode" thing. I'm tandem nursing, always forget to eat breakfast and don't eat much during the day, and my body thinks it's starving. If I could just remember to eat / eat enough! What makes it horrible for me is that my family thinks I'm eating junk or eating too much and I'm actually eating very healthy...it's just my metabolism is basically shut down. UGH!

That has happened to me...I didn't realize there was a name for it. It started last year, all of a sudden, I started gaining weight.... The past few months I have finally begun to lose weight, only because we had a couple of very active vacations. I kne it was my metabolism slowing down, but I didn't know why.

My DS is 30 mos and nurses anywhere from 1-5 times during the day and 1-3 times at night. He's slowly been showing less interest in nursing and I can see that he doesn't need it much anymore. He still loves nursing, but mostly only wants to when he's bored or tired. Unfortunately I can't offer to nurse for distraction or a bribe anymore - he usually refuses to nurse at those times! And the only time that he spends more than 30 seconds nursing now is at night... I miss the settle in to nurse with a book days!

Elphaba, I've learned that if you honor one's feelings and respect them for it, then it won't be such an issue. Those are real feelings she's having, and nursing for comfort is a real need. That's wonderful that she can pinpoint exactly what she needs, and be open about it, rather than just crying and you not knowing why. Adults and children alike need their feelings validated and emotional needs met, not denied and laughed at.

A bit late on the uptake but I'm here. We're still pretty early in the game compared to some of you mamas. Ds is 22 mos.

I just got "mothering your nursing toddler" It's been helpful. Before reading it I was thinking I'd nightwean at 2 but now I'm not so sure. Ds is still a big nightnurser, 4 or 5 times a night which makes me think it's filling a need beyond just being close to mama. The part I find hard is when he cluster nurses and asks for "oht side" every 2 mins At 4 in the morning I'm not always my best and sometimes I wonder whether it wouldn't be better if I just nightweaned completely. But so far I've decided against this.

Right now I think we're dealing with thrush...AGAIN : My nipples are soo sore I'm rinsing them with vinegar/water solution and I'm applying a paste of acidopholous mixed with a bit of water. This afternoon I'm going to get a homeopathic as well. : that this clears it up because it's forcing me to redirect ds when he asks to nurse too many times in the course of an hour. I really don't like denying him this source of comfort